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For the Lincoln MKT, Different May Be Good

By Lawrence Ulrich August 8, 2009 3:00 amAugust 8, 2009 3:00 am

The 2010 Lincoln MKT. Its new 355-horsepower, twin-turbo EcoBoost engine propels the MKT from 0-60 in 6.1 seconds.

“Wow, that’s, um, different,” was one friend’s polite reaction when I rolled up in the Lincoln MKT. I was testing Lincoln’s new three-row luxury crossover before writing my review for this Sunday’s Automobiles section of The Times. But while the stretch-wagon MKT looks nothing like the typical family hauler -– or even the boxy-but-striking Ford Flex on which it is based –- that, um, “different” styling ultimately didn’t affect my final judgment:

The MKT is simply the best Lincoln in years. Sure, it’s a bit of a niche model, up against pricey haulers like the Audi Q7 and Mercedes R-Class. But with its new, 355-horsepower EcoBoost engine -– a modern, twin-turbo, direct-injection V-6 that you’d expect from Deutschland, not Dearborn –- the Lincoln whips the Audi in not only acceleration and poised handling but also fuel economy.

This particular engine, part of a family of efficient 4- and 6-cylinder EcoBoosts that Ford will count on to power 90 percent of its North American lineup by 2013, urges the Lincoln from 0-60 in a smoothly improbable 6.1 seconds. At the same time, the all-wheel-drive MKT delivers 16/22 miles a gallon in city and highway driving, 25 percent better than the V-8 Audi (at 13/18 m.p.g.) that’s still more than a second slower to 60 m.p.h.

Throw in a luxurious and library-quiet cabin, seating for seven and reams of useful technology –- including the brilliantly executed Active Park Assist, which lets the Lincoln parallel park itself better than 95 percent of the population could manage –- and the MKT becomes the most segment-competitive Lincoln to come down Detroit’s pike in a long time. But will the styling be the rub, or maybe the price?

The MKT EcoBoost costs around 50 grand, with a base-engine version starting around $45,000. That’s less money than many competitors, but still a lot, especially for a luxury label that many brand-conscious buyers have been trained to overlook.

Other shoppers may have trouble getting past the MKT’s grinning maw and boat-tailed behind. Now, the MKT is far from Pontiac Aztek ugly. But it is, in my friend’s polite parlance, different. Or maybe you’ve got a better word for it: We’d like to hear your thoughts. Does the Lincoln MKT look like a winner, or does it just befuddle your brain? And for Lincoln, whose designs have been dogged by play-it-safe anonymity, perhaps different is good?

Methinks the styling is overcompensating for past mistakes. Ford has trouble reigning itself in sometimes. Remember the old Taurus that made everything into an oval? That was So Bad it’s nearly in Edsel territory.

The MKT isn’t that bad, and there are some aspects that makes it look ‘Bold!’ rather than just vulgar, but it’s no Audi in the cosmetology department.

I think there is a lot to be impressed with here, but….
Given the price, I found the interior, namely the center counsel to be rather poor looking. That is to say it looks to be from an economy car with more buttons, rather than elegant like, for instance, the Q7.

Maybe it will work though, most domestic car buyers have put up with poor interiors for a long time and the rest of the numbers sound very promising.

I certainly applaud the effort avoid the pitfalls of obvious platform-sharing like so many previous Ford group models.

Bizarre. Will the new, frugal world still accept station wagons that cost as much as the average American’s annual gross? It is a station wagon, you know, All gussied up with doo-dads and a silly high horsepower engine to avoid that label, but, it’s a friggin STATION WAGON!

Buy a Subaru Outback people, and invest the rest of that amount in TIPS. You’d be surprised how many rich people who live in my neighborhood (Greenwich) do that.

Was up in Dearborn 2 weeks ago and actually saw someone driving this around, not suprisingly it ended up parking at one of the Ford buildings. I was taken with the styling. In person, this is one of those vehicles that make you say “wow, what was that?” in a good way. When I got home I immediately started looking up all the Lincoln vehicles to try and figure out what it was. I do like the styling, insided and out and the techno gadgets are cool, however I don’t know that I would pay 50k for the AWD Eccoboost version. In all the articles I’ve read it seems they targeted the Audi Q7 and I think they hit the mark. Something tells me though that the people who buy German cars will still look down their noses at the MKT even though it’s a more attractive and costs less.

Mr Ulrich, this is in response to your Jaguar article- Stop badmouthing the 6 series! Just stop it! Not every car has to look like an E Type or a late ’70s Corvette Stingray (the cars you lusted for as a hormonal teenager) to be beautiful! I am so sick of auto journalists knocking the Bangle styled cars because they don’t look like the cars that got them into cars as a zit-faced teenager. We have Picasso, and then we have the pre-Raphaelites! We have Vermeer, and we have Juan Miro! If I saw a 6 series coupe and a Jaguar, I don’t know which I would be drawn to more. If it is the Jaguar, it is only because it is new and rarer!

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